Norman Hunkers Down and Rides Wind Into Lead at British Open
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By LARRY DORMAN / THE NEW YORK TIMES
July 20, 2008 -- SOUTHPORT, England -- Greg Norman, 53, took a step closer to rewriting the history of his own career on Saturday. With a cruel wind howling from the north, Norman put together a sweet golf story for the ages, shooting a round of 72 and grabbing a two-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round of the British Open at Royal Birkdale.
Two strokes behind Norman are Padraig Harrington, the defending champion, who also shot 72; and K. J. Choi, the second-round leader, who shot 75.
Simon Wakefield, ranked No. 252 in the world, winless on the European Tour and playing in his fourth Open, is alone in fourth place
Old Tom Morris, at 46 in 1876, was the oldest golfer to win the Open. Now, 102 years later, a man seven years his senior is on the verge of victory.
Norman was asked if he was somehow reawakening the old magic that led him to two British Open titles and 78 tournament victories in 13 countries during his regular Tour career.
“There’s a long way to go,” Norman said as he walked through the hedges that stand between the 18th tee and the fairway on the famous finishing hole.
Among the contenders within four strokes of the lead: Ben Curtis, 31, best known for his 2003 victory at Royal St. George’s but also a two-time winner on the PGA Tour; Anthony Kim, 23, a two-time winner this year; Alexander Noren, 26, a Swede playing his first Open in his second year on the European Tour; and Ross Fisher, 27, a two-time European Tour player from Kingston, England, who is playing in his second Open.
If the movement on Saturday is any indicator, it is possible the name of the eventual winner has yet to be uttered on television or written in newspapers or on the Internet. On Friday, 9 over par made the cut on the number, and after one of the wildest Saturdays in Open history, names at nine over par were posted on the leader board, tied for 16th.
“To be honest, score is irrelevant,” Wakefield said. “I think all you need to do is play each shot as it comes, one shot at a time, and try to hit it as good as you can. Position is the key.”
And who could possibly have predicted Norman would have been in this position, leading the 137th Open? It would not have been his wife, Chris Evert, who said Friday, “Never in a million years would I have predicted he’d be in this position.”
It would not have been Norman himself, who said the same thing Wednesday as he stood behind the 18th green after his practice round.
So on a day when only four players broke par and nine could not break 80, Norman broke the record for golf ovations and all the laws of conventional wisdom. Summoning the skills, some of the luck and all the patience he could muster, Norman showed the youngsters how it used to be done — and how it should still be done.
Rebounding from a double bogey at the 10th hole that momentarily stopped his momentum, Norman birdied the 14th and 17th holes to seize the lead from the faltering Choi, whose bogey at the 16th gave Norman a two-stroke cushion.
Much to the surprise of five contenders, the 10th hole could not have been more difficult if it were laid out on a carrier deck in the Irish Sea. The relatively ordinary par-4 of 408 yards ranked third in degree of difficulty and was double-bogeyed by five of the players on the leader board, including Norman and Choi, and six others in the field.
With winds gusting at times to 48 miles per hour, players were backpedaling from 4-footers as if they had seen a rattlesnake. Choi, twice moved away from a 3-footer for double-bogey at the 10th, finally put it in with a shaky stroke.
Not even British royalty could help find some of the wayward shots. The Englishman Paul Casey hit a shot into the bushes on the 15th hole and looked up to see Prince Andrew near the spot the ball entered.
Harrington, who has overcome a sore wrist and doubts about whether he would even compete, is not amazed that Norman is in the lead.
“When he’s interested, Greg Norman can really play,” Harrington said. “He knocked the socks off me in Doonbeg, and you could see he wanted to play golf that day. When he wants it, you know, and he’s as fit a 53-year-old as there is — so once he puts his mind to it, he certainly can play. He hasn’t lost any of his ability. Certainly that’s what I would say in this game.”
Norman clearly wants it now, despite all his protestations to the contrary during the first two rounds, when he was talking about this event as though it were a tuneup for the Senior British Open or just a hit-and-giggle exhibition.
There was much made of how the Open would fare without Tiger Woods, who is rehabilitating his left knee at home in Florida. How would a major without Tiger look? Somehow, Norman may have subconsciously taken that as a personal challenge.
Because this is exactly how major championships looked before Woods came along. |
